International Finance Institutions and the future of Syria - Lessons from Kosovo, Timor-Leste and South Africa

IFI's and the Future of Syria - Lessons from Kosovo, Timor-Leste and Soth Africa (PDF , 328kb)

As the Syrian political transition develops, economic assistance will prove vital to its trajectory, particularly given the widespread poverty and devastation of critical infrastructure after over a decade of armed conflict. In many other contexts, international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have played a leading role in providing financing for reconstruction and development. However, this assistance tends to be based on and conditioned by a neoliberal economic orthodoxy that the recipient country is expected to adopt, with wide-ranging political and socio-economic effects.   

To discuss the impact of IFIs on aspects of political transition, Dr Jacob Eriksson from the Department of Politics and International Relations and the York Centre for Conflict and Security (YCCS) brought together researchers and practitioners from the Bretton Woods Initiative, Corner House Research, the Democratic Progress Institute, Kosovo, Rojava, South Africa, and the University of York. This report distils relevant lessons for Syria from international engagement in three political transitions, two of which were specifically post-war transitions: Kosovo, Timor-Leste, and South Africa’s transition away from apartheid.